Sept. 30th, 2022
Here you can expect to get the latest updates on NAMI WA’s advocacy efforts, legislative priorities, GOTV (Get Out the Vote), calls to action, as well as informative articles and opinion pieces. Read on below for our first installment- NAMI WA Listens.
The last two years have yielded significant progress for behavioral health policy in our state. Our collective voices at NAMI and our coalition have brought behavioral health to the forefront of the conversation in Olympia. Let’s keep this momentum going!
We still have a long road ahead towards ensuring equitable access to a continuum of services, reducing stigma, and fully funding behavioral health. With an ambitious advocacy plan and strong grassroots efforts at every corner of our state, NAMI WA is ready to fight for meaningful policies to improve the lives of Washingtonians with mental health conditions.
Our first step is to gather input from the NAMI community on their experiences navigating Washington’s behavioral health system. To do this, we are launching NAMI WA Listens, our first advocacy and policy survey series which will focus on key behavioral health issues in our state. From now through the end of October, we will be releasing one survey per week with each survey focusing on a specific issue such as access to care, crisis services and insurance coverage. The surveys will be released through the NAMI WA e-news, Facebook, Twitter and here on the Policy and Advocacy blog. Each survey will take roughly 5 to 10 minutes to complete with an opportunity to give written feedback at the end.
The data received from the NAMI WA Listens surveys will help inform us as we develop our legislative priorities for the upcoming 2023 Legislative Session.
On that note, we are happy to release the first survey for NAMI WA Listens: Access to Care. The Access to Care survey focuses on the level of difficulty on finding providers, wait times and availability of specialized services. This survey can be taken by either someone who has a behavioral health condition or has a family member with a behavioral health condition. Please click the link below to take the survey and please feel free to share the survey to other people in your community.